We were standing in a circle outside of the summer dorm. One of the seven or so people in the group was talking about work. I was focusing more on the energetic dog my girlfriend was holding onto than what this person was saying. Until she said, "... and we make girl pizzas and boy pizzas."

I snapped my head up, looking at her with wide eyes. "What... What did you just say?"

"That I have to wear a medium girls' shirt or a small boys' shirt at work."

"Oh. Never mind. That's not what I though you said. I thought we were taking gender segregation to a new level and I was not OK with that."

And we all had a good laugh about it.

But then I got to thinking. Is it really all that crazy to have gendered pizzas?

We have gendered what we wear, where we pee, and what we do for a living. So why not gender what we eat?

Wait. We have gendered eating. What we consume, how we consume it, how much and how often. This gender segregation is only more sinister than other forms for the simple reason that it is covert. We don't have obviously boy food and labeled girl food. But we do have an expectation that girls order salads on a first date and boys order steak (or if you're a starving college student, the cheapest meat — anything but a salad). If a lady is double fisting drinks, she's just asking for trouble. But if a gentleman does it, he reaches a higher status as alpha-alcohol-consumer. A young boy eating a whole pizza himself means he's growing. A young girl eating a whole pizza means she's eating her feelings and she's going to get fat. Teenage boys snacking after school is comically referenced in sitcoms, but teenage girls better be counting every calorie and certainly never snacking — not right before prom anyway.

Yes, people have been pushing back against this for forever. Yes, there are women who do not mind obliterating this stereotype. But there are still others that dare not transgress it. My point is that the pressure to have a stark and contrasting difference between men and women is present in everything we do in America — even when it comes to eating.

But my question is why?

Try to explain the difference between guys and girls without describing likes and dislikes - because anyone is allowed and able to like or not like anything. After every reason you list, ask yourself, "why?" And your answer isn't allowed to be "because" or "it just is." Give an actual reason.

Example: Boys and girls are different because of their physical capacities. Girls are weaker than boys.

But why? Girls are raised to play with dolls and color while boys are raised to rough house and play sports, giving them the strength advantage that continues through life. If women were raised the same as men generation after generation, their physical capacities would not be different.

Now, you try. Let me know what you come up with.